GDC: Civ Designer Says Gameplay Is All In Your Head

SAN FRANCISCO — Sid Meier, creator of Civilization, says gamers are a bunch of head cases.

“Player psychology has nothing to do with rational thought,” said the acclaimed game designer during his keynote address at the Game Developers Conference on Friday. Titled “The Psychology of Game Design (Everything You Know Is Wrong),” the speech talked about what’s going on in a player’s brain as he plays a game, and how designers should anticipate and react to their irrational expectations.

As an example, Meier cited players’ perception of randomness. Most players, he said, don’t fully grasp that randomness is truly random — especially when a roll of the dice produces a negative, unlikely result twice in a row. That’s why he argues for sweeting the odds in the player’s favor after a setback.

In fact, Meier said, most lessons learned from the player can seem counter-intuitive to the left-brained game designer. But creators can find great success when they “go with the flow” — following where players lead, even if the path seems illogical.

He called the relationship between player and designer an “unholy alliance.” The designer’s job, he suggested, is to pretend that the player is good at his game, while the gamer’s job is to suspend his disbelief.

If either party fails in his task, the result is mutually exclusive destruction — the game is turned off and virtual world ceases to exist. Everyone loses.

Meier has been making hit strategy and simulation games since 1982, when he co-founded MicroProse. In 1996 he co-founded Firaxis Games, home to Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri and latter entries in the Civilization strategy series. He is currently at work on Civilization V, due out this fall, and a social version of Civilization for Facebook.

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